What does tallow do to a soap?

[mretzloff]

Ok, this may be a question better answered by those of us who have made soaps before or know a lot about them, but feel free to chime in.

Other than making a puck of soap hard, what does tallow do? I have done some research and it seems that tallow just makes the soap hard. I am just curious if this is true because it seems my tallow soaps are always creamier.

This is not a knock on tallow, so keep those torches and pitch forks away

 

[krissy]

Technically it's used as the base oil in a soap. When a recipe is formulated you need different types of oils each one brings their own properties to the final bar.

Tallow brings hardness for the most part, but it's lather is slightly different than a lather made by palm oil which is another base oil used.

Other oils such as coconut oil brings hardness, but it also very cleansing and can easily over strip the natural oils on the skin, but it also provides that big bubbly lather that people love.

Castor oil also brings lather (bubbles) but it's also conditioning and moisturizing to the skin. But is a soft oil so you need to watch how much you use.

Other oils like safflower oil, or sunflower oil, soybean oil or rice bran oil are middle of the road oils as I like to call them. They are filler oil but also bring their own properties to the soap so you need a good balance of all chosen oils. Some more conditioning than others and have different properties.

Olive oil falls into a class of it's own. It can be used as a middle of the road oil, but it can also be used alone. When used alone or in high amounts it will get hard but it's lather is described as being more slimy by some. Most either like olive oil soaps are hate them because of the lather.

So it helps to understand more about all the oils that are used to understand the role that tallow makes in a soap.

 

[mretzloff]

I might have been better off by just PMing you. Thank you, Krissy

EDIT: So, other than hardness does tallow bring anything?

 

[krissy]

Tallow also brings a few cleansing properties and a bit of skin conditioning/moisturizing properties but that is on the very low end compared to other oils but they are there. It does have a little bubbly properties but gives a lot of creamy lather.

To compare tallow and palm
tallow is a little harder than palm
and tallow is a bit more cleansing than palm
but the palm provides a little more for moisturizing than the tallow
the tallow also brings more bubbly lather than the palm as well.
Their creamy lather is about the same, but you can feel the difference.

I know most of these numbers won't mean a whole lot but you can see how their individual benchmarks numbers rate;

Hardness
Tallow 58
Palm 50

Cleansing
Tallow 8
Palm 1

Conditioning
Tallow 40
Palm 49

Bubbly Lather
Tallow 8
Palm 1

Creamy Lather
Tallow 50
Palm 40

Tallow also contains a LOT more natural stearic acid than palm oil.

Both are also high in Oleic Acid which is good for older skin. Which comes into play when formulating a recipe, especially if your looking for some very specific properties.

 

[mretzloff]

Thank you.

 

[krissy]

Glad I could help.

 

[norman931]

Very interesting, Krissy. How does shea butter fit in there? Is it also considered an oil? I've noticed that most of my favorite soaps contain shea butter.

 

[mparker762]

I don't think tallow itself is terribly special. I think the real import of tallow is it tends to be present in the pre-reformulation recipes, and the newer tallow-free recipes simply aren't as well developed as the older recipes. But there are older recipes that were always tallow-free that are really excellent and as good as the tallow-based pre-reformulation soaps.

 

[Seraphim]

I don't think tallow itself is terribly special. I think the real import of tallow is it tends to be present in the pre-reformulation recipes, and the newer tallow-free recipes simply aren't as well developed as the older recipes. But there are older recipes that were always tallow-free that are really excellent and as good as the tallow-based pre-reformulation soaps.

Can you name names here?

 

[norman931]

Can you name names here?

I knew it was only a matter of time till the thread was invaded by tallow junkies.

BACK! BACK TO YOUR LAIR!

 

[krissy]

Shea Butter is another oil that is often used. It's often used in small amounts in soap. The general rule of thumb (but not always) is 5% or less in soap. Many say if you use any more than that it's a waste.

The one thing with shea butter is that not all of it saponifies so there some of it remains in the finished soap. Not a lot but some. So it's moisturizing in that perspective. But as far as the oil it's self after it's turned into soap isn't as moisturizing as other oils. Which is another reason why it's used in smaller amounts. Plus the fact that higher amounts of oils that are not saponified (turned into soap) could cause the oils to go rancid over longer periods of time.


As far as the tallow goes, I use to be one that didn't think it would make a difference. But now after I started to use it I realized there was a difference. I have no forumlated even my bath soap recipes to have the tallow in them, just because I think it honestly makes a better bar of soap. I think it's something you need to almost test side by side. Like the coke/pepsi challenge to see which one you think is the best one. There is a difference in the type of lather that it produces.

 

[ctakim]

I am a tallow junkie and proud of it!! I love the creamy thickness and rich properties of some vintage soaps such as old Old Spice and I ascribe this to their tallow richness (rightly or wrongly).

 

[Leche]

Tallow brings shaving heaven. That's all I need to know!

 

[Confilo]

I knew it was only a matter of time till the thread was invaded by tallow junkies.

BACK! BACK TO YOUR LAIR!

We prefer the name tallowits

 

[Jethro1984]

I just graduated Soap Making 101 with Krissy. Thanks Krissy for the informative lesson.

 

[TimMechEngr]

Fences nor walls can hold us back...... We are the Tallow Warriors!

 

[Seraphim]

Fences nor walls can hold us back...... We are the Tallow Warriors!

Yeah, but "reformulation" is like kryptonite!